China Mobile's Profit Growth Eases

BEIJING—China Mobile Ltd. said Monday that its profit growth slowed in the first quarter, as the company contended with stiff competition and the increased use of new technologies, like smartphone applications, that have led users to rely less on traditional telecommunications services such as phone calls and text messages.

The slower rate of growth comes as the world's largest mobile carrier, with more than 700 million customers, is plowing almost $7 billion this year into building a new, speedier fourth-generation...